Chapter 10: Face Your Fears

* At the temple *

Ignitus is sitting in the temple, with the rest of the guardians. He's gazing into the pool of visions.

"You've been looking into that for quite a while now, Ignitus," Cyril noticed.

Ignitus didn't take his eyes away from it, "Yes, I've been trying to figure out what I'm seeing. It's not clear."

Purple. Black. Yellow. Red. All mixed together. What could this mean? Ignitus thought. He heard a young boy's scream, and then a loud shriek that sounded like it came from a terrible monster. They sounded so real inside of his head.

Ignitus' head shot up, "What was that!?"

Cyril and Volteer looked at each other, and then looked back at him, "What was what, Igntus?"

Ignitus ran to the balcony, thinking that it might've been Flame. But when he reached the balcony, he saw that Flame had fallen asleep. So, he returned to the guardians.

"Didn't you hear that?" Igntius asked, "Two loud shrieks."

The two other guardians shook their heads, looking confused.

He looked at the pool of visions once more, and he figured it out.

"I must go," Ignitus told them, "I believe that Spyro may need my help."

Cyril stopped him, "Wait, do you want us to do anything?"

Ignitus looked at him, "Just tell Flame that I said…. goodbye."

"Sure," Volteer nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Terrador is lying on the ground. Surrounded by craters full of lava. Spyro and Sparx walk over to him, as he slowly gets up.

Terrador stares at Spyro, wide eyed, "The purple dragon lives."

Sparx looks at him, "He's got a name, you know."

Spyro starts talking before Sparx can say anything more, "Yes, my name is Spyro… and you must be Terrador."

"I am," Terrador confirms, "And I must say, I never thought I'd live to meet you, Spyro."

"Look," Sparx starts again, "I'd love to sit here and hug everybody and chit chat, but shouldn't we leave before the volcano blows us up?"

Terrador agrees, "Yes, I need to tell the other what Cynder is up to."

They start walking, when a massive creature flies out of the volcano, covered in lava. Then, it spreads its wings, revealing a monstrous, black dragon. Cynder. She glares down at the three of them.

"Run," Terrador tells them.

Spyro doesn't budge.

"Look, when the guy says run, I think he knows something!" Sparx says to Spyro in a panic.

Cynder flies down, and grabs the crystal that withholds Terrador's powers. Terrador flies after her after she's grabbed it. She turns around and hits him hard, sending him straight back down to the ground.

"Go, Spyro!" Terrador yells, "I'll go back to the temple and get help!"

Cynder overhears their conversation, and looks at Spyro. He needs to die. She thinks to herself. She swoops down towards Spryo and the two boys run for their lives.

Spyro starts to fly, knowing that he could never outrun Cynder on his feet. He flies over the island, and through the volcano. Cynder keeps shooting fireballs at him. While dodging flying lava and hot rocks, he finally makes it out of the volcano.

Cynder is right on his tail. She snaps at him a few times. Spyro closes his eyes praying that he'll make it.

Suddenly, a big red dragon tackles Cynder, saving Spyro.

Spyro and Sparx turn around when they hear a girl's shriek.

"Ignitus!" Spyro yells. He starts to fly down wanting to save Ignitus, but Terrador blocks him.

He looks at Terrador desperately, "We've got to find them! We've got to help Ignitus!"

Sparx looks at Spyro, and quietly says, "They're gone, Spyro. There's nothing we can do…"

"I don't care," Spyro objects, "Ignitus wouldn't leave me."

Terrador stops him, "Spyro, he's right."

"I'm right!?" Sparx asks loudly, and excitedly, "Oh my god that's a first."

"You'll never find them in this mess, and you're not ready to face Cynder yet," Terrador tells Spyro. "The time to fight will come, but not now."

Spyro lowers his head, and slowly follows them back to the temple.

XXXXXXXXX

"So, Flame," Volteer asks, "How does it feel to be home again?"

"Um… it's alright, I guess," Flame replies, keeping his head down, but looking up at him.

All the guardians know that Flame is Ignitus' son, but they didn't really know each other that well. Their relationship consists of "How are you?"s and "Look how big you are!"s. Flame was closer to Terrador than the other two guardians. Only because whenever Ignitus and his mom were out, it was him that watched over Flame. They used to have a lot of fun together. But as far as Flame was concerned, it was ancient history. He didn't feel like he could trust any of them because of Ignitus. Either way, he still liked all of them more than his father. They never hurt him, but they never stopped Ignitus from hurting him either.

"You've grown, my boy!" Cyril blurted out, "I haven't seen you since you were just a tyke."

Flame gave an awkward smile and nodded, "Yeah, it's been a while."

He looked down at his feet again. Cyril and Volteer look at each other, not knowing what else to say. They figured he just wasn't in the mood to talk.

The boy must be worried about his father, Cyril thought.

Just then, Terrador, Spyro, and Sparx walked into the room. They all realized that Ignitus was not with them.

"Well," Volteer asked, "Where is Ignitus?"

"It's my fault," Spyro said while looking down, guilty, "I failed him when he needed me most."

Flame was confused, "What do you mean? What happened?"

Spyro continued, not totally answering Flame's question, "It's just that, the sight of Cynder so close just…just…"

Sparx gave him the words he couldn't find, "Made your heart stop? Put ice in your veins? Scared the shit out of you?"

"Yeah…something like that," Spyro agreed.

Terrador started, "All warriors feel fear at one time or another, Spyro. There is no shame in that."

Flame looked up at Terrador when he started talking, and Terrador looked back at him.

Just noticing Flame, Terrador said, "Ah, Flame. It's nice to see you."

Flame's eyes widened, not wanting him to spoil the secret that he was keep from Sparx and Spyro.

Sparx had a confused look on his face, "Wait, you two know each other?"

Flame said something before Terrador could, "Um…yeah! We…uh…used to know each other before I moved to the forest."

"Ahem, I believe our friend here was trying to make a point," Cyril interrupted their side conversation.

Thank God, Flame felt relieved.

Terrador agreed with Cyril, "Yes, thank you. What I was trying to say is that all warriors feel fear, Spyro. But only the most valiant among us can face that fear, and master it. From what I saw of you on Munitions Forge, you are one such warrior."

Spyro didn't say anything. He just watched as Terrador walked towards the training room.

"Young dragon," he continued, "Now is the time to complete your training. Now is the time to face your fears."

Spyro followed Terrador into the training room. He held his head high. Sparx quickly followed behind Spyro

"Am I the only one still petrified?" Sparx asks.